


crossfire

by xighs



Series: wide and bright and molten gold [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Eventual Smut, F/M, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Light Angst, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Rare Pairings, Smut, Zuko (Avatar)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:01:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24041761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xighs/pseuds/xighs
Summary: “Lee…,”she breathes, and with the support of her arms around his neck, she pulls herself up to plant a chaste kiss on his lips.Zuko freezes; momentarily forgetting the identity he feigned for himself when he first took refuge here in the earth kingdom, momentarily forgetting his blatant dishonesty towards the only other person in his life that he truly cares for.“That’s not my name-” He blurts, guiltily shaking his head as he cringes away from Jin the moment she tries to reach out to him.“That’s not my name.”
Relationships: Jin/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: wide and bright and molten gold [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726255
Comments: 36
Kudos: 403





	crossfire

**Author's Note:**

> i was traipsing along the line of "what if enough is not enough?" for zuko and jin and then this happened. the silver lining tho? there's porn :")
> 
> anyway i guess this fic could also be read as a stand-alone (w their dating status already established) but u are ofc encouraged to *jazz hands* read the rest before this for a better sense of their story

Zuko may be an idiot for letting Jin talk him over on busting into Ba Sing Se University for a stupid bet but that’s only because there are 20 pieces of silver at stake here that Jin is _confident_ on winning and honestly, he’s willing to bet on the gamble that _she does._

“Remind me again _why_ Ba Sing Se University of all places? Couldn’t we have gone to the city library instead?“ He grumbles. “That way we wouldn’t need to sneak into the Middle Ring.”

Jin sighs, tediously going through each book, manuscript and scroll in the _Royal Lineages_ section of the university’s library that seems to be never ending - just when she thinks she’s found a lead, the information branches out to more redundant data that doesn’t help in proving the bet wrong.

Apparently, there’s been a rumour going round about Earth King Kuei having air nomad ancestry and possibly being an airbender himself - that’s why he’s rarely seen in public to avoid the risk of assassination. Jin calls total BS.

She abruptly closes the book she’d been deciphering under what sliver of moonlight that may serve as illumination, calling it quits all of a sudden, to turn around, inspecting her surroundings to get a new take on things. “Historical earth kingdom documents are known to be kept here, usually used as reliable references for the university’s political science students…,” she trails off, squinting her eyes in the semi-darkness while she walks on ahead.

Zuko follows suit, conjuring a flame in his palm to aid her in her search. “Thanks,” she turns back, flashing him a quick smile before she whips her head back front, sentiment gone just as fast. Zuko has always known about her penchant for books and knowledge but seeing her go this far to uncover a mystery she knows to be false? _Why do I get the feeling this is more about proving herself right than the chance of gaining 20 silver pieces…,_ he thinks.

“There should be a segregated room somewhere in this section where the more important records are kept…,” she murmurs - to Zuko or to herself, he has no clue. God, he wishes she’d hurry up so they could get the hell out of here. He’s pretty sure most of the dust they’ve inhaled from these brittle papers could be noxious and will bite their health in the ass in the future.

“Come _on,_ Jin,” he grits his teeth.

“Somewhere like…,” she trudges forward. _“Somewhere like there!”_ She points ahead, running towards a door so unremarkably nondescript, it so easily blends in with the library walls. Anyone could’ve missed it. Zuko brings his lit palm up towards the inscription engraved above the frame: _Royal Archives,_ it reads.

Ah, but of course it would make sense for them to keep this part of the section locked. He glances down at Jin to find her eyes already pleading up at him, with one hand outstretched around a door handle that won’t budge. He huffs out an exasperated sigh, rolling his eyes as he extinguishes the flame in his palm so he could break the lock open with some heat blasts.

“I swear you’re only dating me for my firebending,” Zuko mutters under his breath.

Jin stands on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. “We only have a few minutes to rummage through before the guards come checking up on the noise,” she says, referring to the mini explosion they conspired to make. “Grab anything relevant, then head out to where we came from.”

There is a secret passage Jin knows of at the back of the library that leads immediately to the courtyards facing the dormitories. Students have been using it for late night cramming sessions way past the library’s operating hours. Luckily for them, it isn’t exam season right now.

Zuko gets the feeling this isn’t Jin’s first time breaking into the library of Ba Sing Se University. 

“Thank you, by the way,” Jin manages to slip in while in the middle of speed reading through document titles. “I owe you one.”

Zuko grunts, fumbling over some paperback books. “Splitting the reward sounds good.”

“Deal,” she grins, eyes now gleaming over at a file labeled _Genealogy of Earth Kingdom Royalty_ in her hands.

The sharp bark of commands and shuffling feet can be heard way behind.

* * *

Apparently whatever’s kept in the Royal Archives aren’t necessarily earth kingdom related, Zuko realizes, staring down at their assorted haul. Jin has also taken the liberty in seizing up some fire nation and water tribe files, claiming _why stop at earth kingdom?_ To which he replies, “I thought you were the one who said to grab anything _relevant?”_

Jin leans her head back against the footboard of Zuko’s bed, emitting a slow exhale from her parted lips, eyes not meeting his. They’re both sitting on his bedroom floor, with documents upon documents of the world’s - well, excluding the air nomads, since they do not believe in monarchical hierarchy - royal lineages traced back from their earliest record sprawled between them.

Her suspicion about the earth king not having air nomad blood in him was right of course, after much reading, and she plans to present those official documents to the town crier first thing tomorrow morning. She hopes that’ll end the conspiracy theory once and for all - the Lower Ring could do with one less gossip in town.

Zuko thinks that’s not the only thing on her mind, though. Staring at her right now, in his dimly lit room, she seems like a million miles away.

“You know, it’s been my dream to study in Ba Sing Se University,” she quietly says, finally pulled back to the reality of the present moment. “I’ve tried applying for a scholarship, countless of times, but applicants in the Middle and Upper Rings are prioritized more and the slots are always full in every intake anyway, so I knew my chances were slim.” She lifts her head back up from the footboard to meet Zuko’s eyes, expression unreadable, but pensive. “It’s only a matter of time until the fire nation takes hold of Ba Sing Se,” she declares. “And by then my biggest regret after losing my parents to the war is not reading enough, learning enough, _knowing_ enough - living my life within this walled city in vain.”

Zuko visibly tenses up at the mention of the fire nation, but does well to calm his nerves. With his arms leaning against his propped up knees, his nails dig into his palms in fistfuls, before allowing them to go slack again.

Jin holds his gaze with a _I’m sorry,_ her expression seems to say, before continuing on. “I guess I got carried away in that split second of a moment looking at all the worldly information within my reach, I got greedy,” she shrugs, bashfully bringing a hand up behind her neck. “It seemed like a good opportunity at the time. I thought - when will I get this chance again?”

It breaks him, seeing her like this. Growing up in fire nation nobility, Zuko always had a place in the best schools, always assigned to the best educators and personal home tutors, even, for syllabuses he needed improving on but during his time as a student, he took it all for granted - more interested in military tactics and planning, as well as the country’s current politics to prepare him on being firelord one day. Subjects he knows she’d love like music, art, geography, history, he pushed aside and it feels almost cruel, sitting opposite Jin like this - someone whom could so easily excel in all those subjects Zuko took growing up, if only they’d traded places.

“I could steal you more books,” Zuko hears himself say, voice firm. “Just name me what kind - I’ll get them for you.”

Jin creases her eyebrows together at what he’s suggesting. “That’s not it-“

“-You’ve shown me the secret passage to the library. I know where it is. You don’t have to come the second time.”

 _“Listen to me,”_ she implores, reaching out to Zuko to hold his face in her hands, legs kneeling on the floor. “I’ve never stolen anything from the library before, I usually just break in to read the books there. I needed to steal this time so I can provide evidence for the bet - nothing else.”

Zuko scowls. “Nothing else, _my ass!_ Those other documents you brought along-“

“-The guards were closing in on us at any moment, and it’s not every day I’d get the chance to read _anything_ behind that locked archive door, I- I panicked,” she bites her lip, holding down her stutter. “I won’t do it again,” she promises, dropping her hands from his face to his shoulders. “After I’m done with them, they all go back to the library. _Nobody’s stealing anything.”_

There is a yearning in Zuko’s heart that he doesn’t know what to make of, so his conviction falters a little as he leans his forehead against hers, confused about wanting to make things right for her.

“You know I’d steal an entire library for you if I could,” he says, vulnerable, and almost desperate.

“I know,” she whispers, pressing a kiss to his lips.

* * *

Zuko’s eyes are dark rimmed, adamant on not sleeping, mostly wanting to keep Jin company at his expense. Though not as invested in learning about royal lineages as much as her, he voluntarily makes the effort on browsing through the pages regarding water tribe customs, noting that the chief of the tribe is considered as royalty, though their roles represent a much higher cultural prominence compared to the hereditary monarchies of the earth and fire nations.

He rubs his eyes, glancing over wearily at Jin. They both have work tomorrow; Zuko at the tea house and Jin at the pottery shop a few streets from him.

“Hey…,” he yawns, stretching a hand out across the floorboards, placing it in between them. “Let’s call it a night.”

It takes a moment for Jin to tear her eyes off from the scroll she’d been intently reading on, to look directly at Zuko. It’s a fire nation scroll, he realizes, and there is an awed expression dawning on her face, like she’d just discovered the arrangement for integral pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that are needed to see the bigger picture she’d been trying to solve, more clearly. “I think either one of the firelord’s children are meant to cross paths with the avatar to teach him firebending.”

Well, _that_ wakes him right the fuck up.

Zuko abruptly flinches, eye dilating, his posture jolted straighter at the presumption she so confidently states. He stares at her, horrified, feeling _exposed_ all of a sudden, hyperaware of the _cold_ all of a sudden, the chilly draft coming from the open window in his bedroom a reminder of the absence of heat he so _desperately_ needs right now.

It’s just Jin and those words _coming from_ Jin - _his_ Jin - that he could never imagine the possibility of ever hearing.

She spreads the scroll across the floor to engage him in the family tree presented there, tracing the genealogy chart upwards with the pads of her fingertips from the most current to the fourth generation of ancestry.

There aren’t faces illustrated in the document - thank _god_ \- just written names of fire nation royalty, and he unwittingly flicks his eyes towards _Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation_ for a fraction of a heated second, before forcefully averting his glare elsewhere, to the name her finger’s currently stopped on.

He feels his throat close up, so he gulps in effort to quell the grating dryness creeping up inside of him.

 _Avatar Roku,_ it reads.

“Think of it - the avatar is searching for a firebending master, right?” She ponders. “I think there is a connection to these royals akin to destiny; the paternal descendants of the firelord whom started the war as well as the maternal descendants of the avatar whom tried to prevent it. It is almost cruelly fitting if one of them were to join forces with the current avatar to end the war once and for all - ultimately choosing the good instead of the bad, despite having both halves flowing in their blood.”

Zuko is quiet. Jin is quiet after her speech. The whole room is so _goddamn_ quiet.

“Where are you _getting at,_ Jin?” He accuses, a harsh bite in his tone he’d been trying to contain from escaping.

“I’m just saying…,” she draws a breath. “The great grandchildren of Avatar Roku coming together with Avatar Aang to end the war their _other_ great grandfather started sounds almost like what fate would have it,” Jin contends, confused at Zuko’s reaction. She leans in closer to him, expression inquiring, but his posture is stiff, unmoving, eyes fixated to the ground. “Hey…,” she starts, gaze faltering downwards too. “We’re all hoping the avatar will eventually find a firebending teacher before the comet comes. I just had a desperate thought.” And in a quiet, solemn murmur she adds, “He’s running out of time.”

Zuko peers up at her then, studying her face, his own expression hard and contemplative.

“Which one of the firelord’s children, though?” He dares to ask.

Jin meets his eyes. “My best bet is the one currently in hiding.”

Zuko reflexively clenches his hands tight, the rapid heat generating in his palms threatening to burst into flames. Jin never loses her bets.

* * *

The days working in the tea shop after that revelation with Jin has been growing more and more unfulfilling. Sometimes his thoughts shift to the face of his father, sometimes to the face of his sister, but when they start reminiscing back onto the outlines of his mother’s face, the last he remembered seeing her before she disappeared - _that’s_ when Zuko learns that he’s had enough of the entire cashier boy farce, excusing himself to the back alley to remember how to _breathe_ normally without drawing fire out from his breath whenever his temper rises to the occasion of his overthinking.

Iroh has noticed, _of course he’s noticed,_ he knows he can’t hide anything from him.

“What happens to us if the fire nation wins the war?” He asks one night.

Iroh closes his eyes, already expecting the question. “We do whatever it takes to survive.”

That doesn’t satisfy Zuko. “We can’t keep running,” he snarls through his teeth. _“I_ can’t keep running.”

It just isn’t enough anymore - playing house in Ba Sing Se, pretending that everything is okay, burying a past that has _defined_ most parts of him now, as if he should be ashamed of the struggles that’s led him here, as if he’s learnt nothing from his mistakes. As if he doesn’t have a choice left _but_ to run - cowardly, but his only apparent chance of survival.

Iroh should know this. He _must_ know this - that his vision of starting over with this new, humble life in the earth kingdom is only momentary at best.

He’s been hearing customers talk about the war in the tea shop, he’s seen the mass panic in people’s eyes whenever anyone brings up Sozin’s Comet. He knows what his father is planning - he knows it like the back of his hand - what he intends to do once its power is harnessed by him and his military.

 _There’ll be no world left to survive_ in, he thinks, bitterly, regretfully, suddenly acutely aware of how dirty his bloodline is - born to a family of _killers._

There is hope, though, one he must come to terms with; Jin and her books and uncovered truths, Jin and her talks of destiny and fate - Jin and her faith in the avatar and the restoration of peace in the world. A world where his uncle can finally live the remainder of his life in retirement, running his very own tea shop in his name. A world where the people of the four nations can live free of tyranny and oppression from fire nation rule. A world, maybe, with Jin by his side. A life together, far away in the outskirts of the land - doesn’t matter where, so long as they have each other.

He closes his eyes as he pictures their future together, he closes his eyes as he’s kissing her now.

Truth be told, he is scared. Scared of being robbed of moments like this, not knowing when they can ever do this again, when will be their next - when will be their last.

He pushes his insecurities aside - it doesn’t matter now, _it doesn’t matter now,_ he chants in his heart, because in this moment, there is only Jin and her skin hot on his body, Jin and her soft lips molding into his, Jin and her impassioned gasps in his deliberately parted mouth, Jin and the spread of her cunt teasing against the head of his cock.

Zuko grunts, low and guttural, breaking off from her as he begins trailing his mouth downwards as a means of distraction, restraining himself with any ounce of mindful consciousness left in his brain from bucking his hips up and sheathing his length fully in her warmth. He _wants_ Jin to know that she’s in control, he _wants_ her to set the pace. His tongue finally meets with the nub of her breast, helping himself as he engulfs his mouth around it, suckling greedily on the sensitive tip there. Jin winces, arching her back, deepening his ravishing against her bosom as her hips rock languidly against him, in a rhythm so excruciatingly slow, so _lacking_ of any sense of urgency, it’s beginning to drive him insane.

She runs her fingers possessively through the damp strands of his disheveled hair, matted together and slick with sweat, nudging his head towards her other breast that needs tending to, an invitation, a _craving_ for more skin she wants him to cover. Her head tilts back at him then, and under hooded, glazed eyes, she watches him groan into her chest, sending vibrations reverberating all throughout her body.

He hurriedly latches onto the unattended breast, single-minded, animalistic almost, happily complying to her wishes. His dick desperately throbs against her entrance, moist and sodden, and _ready_ for him as he’s ready for her - he slides their sex together rampantly in the maddening heat of the moment, sinking deeper into her without meaning to, forgetting about restraint, forgetting about foreplay.

Jin’s legs shake, giving out on her, and on impulse, he catches her lithe body, turning her over on the bed so she may rest there, all the while not breaking contact of their sexes. Her hips twist, reangling half his girth inside of her, eliciting a breathy exhale from her dewy lips, glistening with a layer of his saliva upon them. _“Always in a rush,”_ she coos into the nook of his left arm propped beside her head, aimlessly trailing her fingertips along his right arm that is mirrored on the other side, soothing the tension in his biceps there.

Zuko huffs a frustrated breath from his nostrils, drinking up the nude sight of Jin, soft and pliant beneath him, and it sets off something carnal inside him that leads blood straight to his throbbing cock. Jin feels an urgent pulse in her womanhood - from Zuko’s twitching member or from her own deep arousal for him, she did not stop to think as she bounces her hips upwards without warning, drawing out an uncharacteristic moan from Zuko’s lips as his own hips buck against her.

 _“Fuck, Jin,”_ he seethes, rolling his groin against her as he sinks further in, then out again, craning his neck down to seal her lips with his, try as he might to stifle his ardent, unintelligible whining for her lust. Jin eases his mouth open wider for her to lick further inside of it, tongue exploring along the walls of his mouth as his own tongue fights for dominance against her intrusion. Zuko’s jaw goes slack for a second, brows furrowed as his hips jerk harder into her at the growing pace of his rhythm, the cushioned skin of his sac slapping obscenely against her ass with each deep thrust.

Jin hangs her head back away from Zuko’s face, eyelids fluttering shut as she draws in short, steady breaths amidst his fast paced shunting. “Yeah… _yes,”_ she sighs heavily into the air above her, bringing a hand across her chest to lessen the lewd bouncing of her supple tits. _“Like that,”_ she encourages, absently tweaking a nipple with her thumb. Zuko nudges her obscuring arm away with the ridge of his nose, his free arm capturing hers to lace their fingers together as he pins her down, burying his face in between her luscious mounds, drenched in sweat. He begins to shake his head to engage their erotic bouncing once more, and Jin’s eyes hurriedly fly open, lifting her head back up to watch him crudely assault her breasts, his right arm slithering upwards from her waist to cup a tit in his palm, massaging the sensitive bundle there while he makes his way to lap against the areola of her other breast in circles with the drag of his tongue.

Jin whines, unable to control the building sensations in her body as she shamelessly spreads her legs open a little wider for another anticipated slam of his turgid cock against the tight walls of her womanhood, beckoning him deeper and _deeper_ with every frantic plunge. It rips a cry right out of her as she flings a free arm around his neck, balancing herself as she slides her forehead against his, pushing away the soaked strands of raven hair stuck to his skin there.

 _“I’m close,”_ she pants, legs trembling as they wrap around him, meeting the stammer of his erratic rutting with the upward grinding of her hips - as if no matter how far deep into her he already is, pulling back just to fill her up whole once more, it never seems to be _enough,_ just out of reach from something substantially _greater-_

In that moment there was only Jin.

Jin and the desperate pleading of her olive green eyes staring back into his burning golden irises, Jin and her dirty, begging moans in between her whispering of sweet nothings into his ear, Jin and her dripping cunt aching for more of him, staining the bedsheets underneath them with the fluids of her arousal, hazing his mind with the musky scent of her sex.

Zuko unlaces their intertwined fingers so he could use that arm to snake across the plumpness of her ass, his grip on her tightening, while the another arm holds on to her slim body across her porcelain back, snagging on the skin there _faint_ _red_ with the unconscious digging of his nails into her, just bringing her, _pressing_ her impossibly closer to him as his dick involuntarily jerks hard into her with the next impulsive slam of his groin against the her slick cunt.

Jin yelps first, a tingling surge of sensations sending her right over the edge as Zuko allows her a moment to languidly ride out the wave of pleasure overcoming her as she grinds up against his cock.

He wastes no time in search for his own high as he brings his hands up to cup her face, open mouthedly kissing her in his raging passion as her own hands slither downwards to grasp onto his taut ass, and with every short retreat of his dick away from her heat, she aides in his subsequent thrusts by suggestively pushing his ass down harder towards her cunt, encouraging him, trailing kisses across his cheek to meet his ear, sliding a hot tongue down there.

Zuko shudders as he shuts his eyes tight, letting a throaty groan escape his mouth, his loins jerking against her as the building ecstasy of his own release blinds all his other senses - the twitching of his fully sheathed cock buried deep inside her emptying his seeds in one final climax as the walls of her sex contract all around him.

He opens his eyes a moment too soon to see the bloom of a deep pink blush spreading across Jin’s cheeks, and he realizes, belatedly, that she’d been perversely staring at him during the moments leading up to his orgasm all this while. Zuko shudders into her once more, clenching his teeth as he heavily drags his member into her while he rides that final high, depositing his excess cum into her as he watches her arch her back to reciprocate his movements, the heat of his fluids filling her, defiling her, _satiating_ her in post-orgasm bliss. _“Lee…,”_ she breathes, and with the support of her arms around his neck, she pulls herself up to plant a chaste kiss on his lips.

Zuko freezes; momentarily forgetting the identity he feigned for himself when he first took refuge here in the earth kingdom, momentarily forgetting his blatant dishonesty towards the only other person in his life that he truly cares for-

Momentarily forgetting that he just made love to a girl who has no clue to who he really is at all.

Zuko coughs, throat dry and painful, and - it tastes like ashes in his mouth - _why does it taste like ashes in his mouth?_

“That’s not my name-” He blurts, guiltily shaking his head as he cringes away from Jin the moment she tries to reach out to him. _“That’s not my name.”_

* * *

The punches he throws at the stacks of hay in front of him - that are to be shipped the next morning to the Agrarian Zone situated right after the Lower Ring - have been relentless, the hard bristles grazing against his knuckles repeatedly in his vigorous punching sets until they’re scraped raw. It stings but he doesn’t care, welcoming the pain as progress instead as adrenaline kicks in, and he swings a leg up this time, changing his sequence, landing a fluid kick onto the bundle of dried grass with a thud.

He’d been miserable, occupying his nights after his day shifts at the tea shop on hours upon hours of training - for _what,_ he does not think himself worthy enough to say. Not yet - _no, not quite yet._

All he knows is this; he needs to get stronger.

Every day, the fire nation is already one step ahead of the curve - every day a new potential thought might strike war generals to improve on their current military strategies, every day a new idea on war weapons might be coerced to be constructed by earth kingdom engineers that are held hostage by the fire nation, just _anything_ to secure the country’s upper hand in the war.

He delivers another swift strike to the bale of bounded hay that is a few punches away from being displaced out of its compressed, modular shape. He is panting heavily from physical exertion, just hours away from dawn, but he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

His blows are fueled with thoughts of his father _\- no, Ozai,_ he corrects, since he really doesn't deserve the title at all _-_ the man whom wanted nothing more than to cast his own infant son over the palace walls because he was _certain_ his firstborn was a nonbender, then years later refusing to accept forgiveness from that said son, while he’s penitent and on his knees, teaching him a lesson instead by permanently scarring his face for refusing to fight him in an Agni Kai like a man - calling it an act of cowardice.

His muscles are tensing up but the joints in his elbows and shoulders now grow warm in his bones. Zuko shifts his weight from his current foot to the other, switching his stance where he can now aim easier punches to train his non-dominant arm. There is sweat beading up above his brow but he pays it no heed. He thinks of Ozai almost going through with the plan to murder him had his mother not intervened and he lunges in with a harsh blow this time, cutting a shallow gash open on his knuckles. He barely felt it.

For so long, he’d been idolizing Ozai like a living icon he should strive to be, for so long he struggled to be the perfect, dutiful son that was expected of him - a role he fought to mould himself into. Growing up, he’d been aware of his inherent empathy that was absent in his father, absent in his sister, but entirely dismissing the empathy his mother also had by naively reasoning that all mothers must have it in them too. He viewed that soft trait in his personality as abhorrent - a weakness he harbours that he must work hard to rid of at once, a psychological defect that will hinder him in his goal on becoming the strong, ideal firelord he had envisioned for himself in his mind.

Now living in exile he realizes, his empathy was his strength all along.

Zuko flexes his shoulders back, bracing his arms in front of his torso, widening his stance as he plants his feet further on the ground, assuming a basic firebending position. _Power in firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles,_ he recalls his uncle saying, and as he slowly accepts all the unjustified hurt in his life by allowing his mind to recollect the chinks in his armour that he has deemed as his weaknesses for so long, he takes _all_ of that unresolved baggage - and throws it directly through the flickering plumes of vengeful flames released from his palms, igniting stacks of hay all around him in the warehouse one by one until he is completely surrounded by their vehement heat.

He isn’t afraid of them burning him, though. Doesn’t even flinch. _Fire is life,_ he acknowledges, and although fire has burnt him once, he will not let fire burn him again.

With each controlled breath he draws in and out from his immovable body, the raw intensity of the fires around him respond at the same intervals - shrinking smaller and growing bigger at every inhale and exhale, completely _yielding_ to his will.

 _The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire,_ Iroh’s voice reminds him. And now as he closes his eyes in reverence to that energy, Zuko seeks for forgiveness in himself through Jin’s lead.

It is in the way that she isn’t prejudiced against fire nation citizens, it is in the way that she has learnt how to let go of past grudges held against them despite what their leaders did to her country - it is ultimately, in the way that she still believes in eventual peace in the world, above all else.

The same way that she believes in the destiny of the banished prince of the fire nation in teaching the avatar his final element left to master.

His last exhale has been broodingly long, amplifying the tips of the bordering flames that are now threatening to breach him.

Zuko is calm.

Viciously caught between the crossfire of his past and present, he knows what he has to do next.

He draws in a long, deliberate breath for this concluding inhale, sucking in as much air around him as he could - soot and all, as the uncontrolled liveliness of the encroaching flames encircling him relent to the steady rate of his breath control. Behind his eyelids that are closed in concentration, the light begins to dim.

When he wheezes to exhale the next moment, dry coughing while he's at it as he struggles for air, he finds himself surrounded in thick, smoky darkness instead - with hardly a single flame left to manipulate.

The fires are extinguished.

Zuko’s body temperature is blazing in heat.

But he remains unburnt.

* * *

In the still hours of the night, Zuko stands as a looming shadow in her room. Fingering the strap of his rucksack on his shoulder, he crouches down, stretching a hand over to clasp onto her fingers peeking out from the blanket.

Gazing achingly at her peaceful, sleeping features, he inches his face nearer. _“My name is Zuko,”_ he whispers, before deepening a kiss onto the folds of her slightly parted lips.

Jin wakes up the next day tasting ash.

**Author's Note:**

> 0 to 100 real quick - i know. im sorry


End file.
